Getting Regular

So I think I've survived the bumpy transitional period...we'll see after I write my first monthly review. I planted a victory garden with the seeds people have been sending me and a few rows have already started sprouting (I hope it is the jalapeno but I forget what veggies are planted where :(. A new PCV TEFL will be moving to my town so I'm going to drop by her house to make sure everything is set for move-in tomorrow. It is starting to get hot again now that the rains have tapered off. Eagerly awaiting the harmattan so the temps will drop...not looking forward to another chaleur.

Welcome back to the Alibori!

So, I have a couple updates:

1: I found my IDs and bank card...sweet
2: I'm back on facebook, it should be easy to search me (a million bucks says I'm the only Michael Chadsey in Cotonou Benin
3: My first few days at work have been hectic and scary.

It isn't that I didn't get that much training...I'm sure Kelly did tell me everything I need to know. It was just that it was already a month ago when I did the 2 days of shadowing...watching and doing are different things entirely! Already I have been setting up post visits, arranging for gas bottles to be shuttled, getting the plumber and electrician to call me back, picking up packages at the post, buying supplies for the guards, paying the guards...did I mention I do this all in French? I really need to brush up on my phone French...when I can't see a person's lips it makes it harder for me to understand. It will all work out in the end, and I'm glad I was chosen for this job because at least I'm DOING SOMETHING! The new PCVs are now all in their posts. I told them to chill/readjust this week (their first time being without Americans in-country) and we will arrange post visits next week...I'm bringing candy.

Super Busy...

I have had a very busy past couple weeks. First: not last Friday or the Friday before that, but the Friday before that I lived through my first earthquake. I was sleeping in Cotonou (the quake hit around 4 AM) when I heard a rumbling. I first thought a bomb was going off at the gate to the Bureau but then as the sound continued I thought it was a low airplane or dump truck outside. Afterwards for a few seconds it felt like the room was wobbling. Only the next morning were we informed that we had experienced an earthquake. After that I headed to Porto Novo to help train the new stagieres. I spent two weeks helping with and instructing the technical sessions. Yesterday we swore-in 50 new PCVs. 11 of whom are new Environment volunteers... unfortunately none of them will be coming up to the Alibori. My region will be getting 4 volunteers after one ETed last week. I am now fully fledged as a PCVL and am going to spend the next week just reviewing manuals and old monthly reports before I go on my first post visits so that I don't screw up an expense reimbursement or fail to pay the guards correctly.
Recent News:
I might have lost my PC ID and copies of my no-fee passport as well as my African bank ATM...maybe.
I am 1-1 in fantasy football due to the fact that the Steelers can't seem to run the Bears into the ground.
I inherited 5 'scholarship girls' in my new post. The scholarship girls program encourages girls to succeed in school by providing tutoring and paying for school fees and basic supplies for selected girls. My 5 girls are in terminale...equivalent to our 12th grade.
I tore two large holes in my feet playig touch football with the new PCVs ( it was RCH/EA Vs. SED/TEFL... aka REACH vs. DEF SLECT)
Hope everyone had a great September

Transition

I am stuck in Cotonou for a couple weeks between now (as I do some banking stuff for PCVL) and when I have my mid-service medical exam (next week) and as I work weeks 8 and 9 of stage (starts the 13th ends the 26th). This means I am away from my post for a month and effectively eating through my living allowance. Every PCV eats their allowance, since we don't pay for houseing but only pay travel and food....but when you are down south the opportunity to buy things that are not rice and beans is just too much to bear. For instance, last night I went to a Thai restaurant...it was awesome. This afternoon I ate a ham, chicken, and cheese sandwich (I had to eat two since they were very thin)...also awesome. Of course this greater diversity of better foods in the big city comes at a cost. Back in my post I would spend 1500 CFA a day on food (rice, beans, pasta, or local cheese called wagashi), today I spent 1800 CFA on my lunch. This is why volunteers posted in the one big city in this country are paid 75% more than all the other volunteers. If you'll excuse me I am now going to spend the next two weeks eating spaghetti and omelet from the local cafeteria in order to save enough money to pay for my Thai food last night.

Some animal pixs

I know you guys like the animal pictures, so here are a couple more. One is of a huge dung beetle that flew into my forehead while I was walking outside a buddies house. They are big, heavy, and fly very fast...it drew blood. The other picture is of a type of burrowing turtle here, much like those gopher turtles in FL. I also am uploading a video of the beetle...and to celebrate my moving out of my old post: every day I was at post I marked the bedroom door with a chalk mark...this was my door when I moved out.

Auto update...

I know I probably wrote earlier how amazing the Sahel changes face. It feels like false advertising when the new stagiers come visit within the next month...it is soo green! This is not the reality. October is the end of rains here, until june/july. Everything gets brown and orange. It is really amazing that anything survives till the next rainy season...all the grasses spread their seed and grow dormant, mango and neem trees stop growing (but the mangos develop during dry season and are not ready to eat until the rains start...its called the mango rains). Right now the corn and cotton are growing quickly and the grasses are growing high on the side of the roads...all this fades away just as quickly as it appeared, about 1-2 months.

Here is an old picture of me (taken by Big E's far too attractive GF) since everyone is clamoring for one. Things are going slowly here and I am just writing up my aid proposal and finishing up budgets. Last night was rowdy at my post. Apparently the neighbor behind me had his house broken into and a couple bags of fertilizer went missing. This morning it all boiled over when the perpetrator was caught and another man, who was previously fingered for the crime, decided to go after someone with a machete. My porch served as one of the cool-down areas and I tried to look too busy to care. Stopped by the missionary's place last night for some mexican food...very , very good. On the subject of food: If anyone is sending a package between now and the end of October could you please send dried cranberries and french fried onions...we are assembling things for thanksgiving dinner, and with the mail status here we have to plan way ahead :)...(also, if anyone sends mint oreos they will be eaten) Still excited to head down and help out the new training class, but that isn't for a couple weeks still. Hope my sister has a great time starting law school (next week?) and has a good b-day...my brain is atrophying here in W. Africa.